Grand National 'the dream' for role model Aswat

Aamilah Aswat says racing in the Grand National is her ultimate target as she seeks to make more history in the sport.

Last week the 20-year-old became the first black female British jump jockey to win a UK horse race.

That victory came less than three months after Aswat had become the first black female British jump jockey to compete in a race in Britain.

Aswat was part of the inaugural Riding A Dream Academy scholarship programme in 2021-22 and then completed a foundation course at the British Racing School.

And she is clear that her ambition is to ride in the Grand National.

"That is still the dream, a distant one, but still very much the dream," Aswat told BBC Sport.

Aswat began riding aged five at St James City Farm - an inner-city stables in Gloucester - before linking up with trainers Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls.

She was hooked by the sport after racing a pony at Cheltenham.

Her win earlier this month came in just her fourth professional ride after taking out her jockey's license in autumn 2025.

"All the racing community have been very supportive and nothing has held me back," Aswat said.

"Every time I would go to Cheltenham I wouldn't see people the same colour as me, so in that sense it was daunting."

Bailey could see Aswat's "natural talent" straight away.

"I take photographs of horses schooling the whole time for my owners and I've never had a photograph of her being out of place - that's quite a unique thing," Bailey told BBC Sport.

"It's very, very hard for [conditional jockeys] to get going - 90% of the jockeys now are either sons of trainers or sons of owners who put a lot of money into the business.

"I ring up an owner and say 'I've got this really good young black girl who wants to ride. Will you let them ride your horse?' Well, I mean, frankly, you're paying the same for her as you would do for [reigning champion jockey] Sean Bowen or anybody else. It's quite a difficult one.

"She's got to be strong enough to take all that and I'm pretty confident she will be able to cope with the additional attention, including potential social media abuse.

"She will always be a role model."

'Hopefully it inspires others'

As a youngster, Aswat looked up to Khadijah Mellah - the first British Muslim woman to win a horse race in Britain.

Mellah, then aged 18, made history by winning the Markel Magnolia Cup in 2019, months after riding a horse for the first time.

"It made me believe in myself even more," Aswat said.

"It feels good for myself but hopefully inspires others. It feels nice to be a role model and make people believe in themselves."